2023 Courtenay Annual Report

Strategic Cultural Plan

Community Engagement From May through July 2023 engagement activities included an Arts and Culture Round Table Focus Group, One on one interviews, group conversations with equity priority communities, and an online community survey which gathered responses from around 700 people. Engagement was guided by Courtenay’s Official Community Plan Cardinal Directions and sought to ensure that a diverse and representative range of voices was heard through community consultation with an equity lens. Historically under-represented groups and individuals were connected via community organizations representing equity priority groups including Indigenous peoples, people of colour, people with disabilities, youth, new and emerging artists, people who are unhoused, 2SLGBTQIA+, and newcomers. Community Check-In Event Over 40 people attended a check-in event in November. The event included a 20-minute presentation, interactive self-guided activities, and a musical performance by local duo Café Olé. The project consultants, Nordicity, presented findings from community consultation, including the draft vision and preliminary strategic directions for the cultural plan.

Plan Background The Strategic Cultural Plan is a 2023 Council strategic priority to provide a framework and roadmap to support arts and culture in Courtenay over the next ten years. The Strategic Cultural Plan will seek to ensure that arts and culture is integrated into the community and representative of all residents. The development of the Strategic Cultural Plan will assist the City in achieving the following key outcomes: • Highlight importance of cultural services, cultural awareness, and cultural activities • Evaluate and benchmark impact of the cultural community • Build investment and promotion of cultural tourism, economic development, and social cohesion • Identify cultural service needs, and analyze facilities options • Identify best practices to inform cultural service policies • Develop an implementation plan: identify roadmap, timeline, and responsible parties) The development of the plan involves a five-phase process, with research, community engagement, analysis (including facility options and economic and social impact analysis, municipal benchmarking), followed by the development of a draft strategy and recommendations for community feedback and review, and lastly, the creation of a final plan in 2024.

Community Check-In Event

City of Courtenay | 2023 Annual Report

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